The Primary Cause Of Heroin Addiction

What is Addiction?

Drug Addiction

Any drug that produces changes in brain reinforcement and motivation pathways can cause drug addiction. This means that any psychodepressant or psychostimulant can cause drug addiction. The likelihood that a drug will lead to drug addiction is linked to the speed with which that substance promotes dopamine, the intensity of dopamine effects and the reliability that dopamine effects will occur.

The likelihood of developing heroin addiction

Heroin, a psychodepressant, crosses the blood brain barrier 100 times faster than morphine, so it’s very fast. It has very high activity on opioid receptors, which results in intense dopamine effects. Heroin also has near perfect reliability for producing dopamine. For these three reasons heroin is considered a near perfect drug for manifesting drug addiction i.e. a Substance Use Disorder. However, we know now that heroin is actually a prodrug, which means heroin must…Read More…